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Biomedical beauties: Wellcome Image Awards winners

The Wellcome Image Awards celebrate the way photography and micrography can show unexpected biomedical structures and patterns. The winning images will be on display at the Wellcome Collection in London from 21 June. Caroline Morley

This was the overall winner. It shows the surface of the brain of a person with epilepsy. The image was taken before an intracranial electrode recording procedure, in which a flexible electrode grid was attached to the brain's surface. The patient was then taken to the telemetry ward, where their brain activity was recorded. The surgeon used the recordings to identify the specific areas of the brain to be removed in a subsequent operation. This patient made a full recovery and no longer suffers from seizures.

(Image: Robert Ludlow, UCL Institute of Neurology, London)

Much of the deadly impact of cancer is due to metastasis, in which cancer cells spread to other tissues. This image was captured by a confocal microscope as part of an investigation into the role played by mitochondria in this process. We see cancer cells travelling through tiny fluid-filled channels.

This scanning electron micrograph shows an array of microneedles, micrometre-scale needles formed from a biodegradable polymer. They are useful in penetrating the outer layers of skin painlessly and safely to deliver vaccines and drugs.

(Image: Peter DeMuth)

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This is a confocal micrograph of Bacillus subtilis, a bacterium commonly found in soil. The team behind the image are using fluorescent proteins, time-lapse confocal microscopy and biophysical models to understand the organisation of bacterial biofilms.

(Image: Fernan Federici, Tim Rudge, P. J. Steiner and Jim Haseloff)

This scanning electron micrograph of caffeine crystals has been false-coloured to emphasise their structure. Image creators Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy of the University of London have been recognised a number of times by Wellcome Image Awards during the 15 years since the competition began.